ditto@cbmvax.UUCP (Michael "Ford" Ditto) (11/30/88)
In article <9025@gryphon.COM> jdow@gryphon.COM (J. Dow) writes: >There are some issues with the UNIX that still need solution. For one thing >we need a generic interface tool that will allow device drivers configured >for AmigaDOS to also work with UNIX. It's a great idea, but I seriously doubt that such a thing will ever exist. Exec and Unix drivers are so different in structure that it would be difficult to directly map functions from one to the other. Even if we someday have Exec running at the same time as Unix with message passing capability between them, there would probably have to be a custom "interface" driver on Unix for each Amiga device. There aren't enough standard Exec device commands for all the functions that Unix might need, and every device has its own peculiarities, especially considering the various classes of devices, such as filesystem devices, terminal ports, printers, network devices, etc. > SOme kind of utility willhave to be >included or things will be pretty grim for folks who do not have 2090A >controllers. 3rd-party hardware developers will have to provide a Unix driver for their device. It's pretty easy to modify an existing driver to drive a new device, and hopefully, we'll be able to help by providing working examples, etc. I think the tricky part will be in the installation process; our installation floppy would probably have to be changed to run AmigaDos instead of Unix, and it would create a Unix kernel which included whatever drivers the user chose. In any case, I don't think it's ever been done before (to distribute a binary Unix system that can be used with an unknown, user-provided, driver for the main filesystem). I expect that the first release will have support for user-installable device drivers, but not as replacements for the root filesystem (i.e. a 2090 will be required). -- -=] Ford [=- "The number of Unix installations (In Real Life: Mike Ditto) has grown to 10, with more expected." ford@kenobi.cts.com - The Unix Programmer's Manual, ...!sdcsvax!crash!elgar!ford 2nd Edition, June, 1972. ditto@cbmvax.commodore.com